Eclectic Grooves

This is for those of you who missed the --dv--l-ny Original Samples when it was posted all over the message boards and hip-hop sites a couple months ago. Most of these were taken down because someone claiming he's the artist in question sent a random message on Myspace and requested that the files be taken down. After scouring the web for a couple hours, I finally hit the jackpot with a Sharebee link on Google that was cleverly disguised as a random title. I am being vague about the actual artist, because I don't want these files to be removed right away. However, those of you who know what the artists look like will recognize them in the photo above. I'm not trying to go against the artist's wishes, but damn if these aren't the most obscure samples to ever be incorporated into a hip-hop record. Further, I don't believe that it was the artist who actually sent the message. It's probably just some disgruntled fan of his music who felt that posting these orig...

Well.. The past few weeks have been difficult for me, as I've been in and out of urgent care twice, and put on two different types of antibiotics all within the same week. I'm still not sure if the infection is getting any better, but I have to keep the faith. I have still been thinking about posting on the blog, but the level of discomfort has kept me from doing this until today. Life is a strange thing. One day you have a job and steady money coming in, and the next one you find yourself looking for work and heading to the doctor with a serious infection that needs immediate attention. Whenever I experience something like this, I think of other people who have to deal with pain on a regular basis, and I thank my lucky stars that I have generally been in great health throughout my life. My friends, girlfriend and family have been extremely supportive of me over the past few weeks, and I am eternally grateful that they are a part of my life. This post goes out to all of those p...

Cecil Percival Taylor is world renowned for being one of the progenitors of the free jazz movement that took the jazz world by storm in the mid 1960's. After working with Hot Lips Page and Johnny Hodges for a short duration, Cecil formed his own quartet in 1955 featuring Steve Lacy on soprano sax, Buell Neidlinger on bass and Dennis Charles on the drums. From 1961 to 1986, Cecil primarily performed and recorded with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, drummer Sunny Murray and Andrew Cyrille. Over the past two decades his recordings have mainly been released on European record labels, with the rare exception of a few select recordings that can be found in the US. Cecil's approach to playing the piano is with a visceral percussive style that evokes the drumming of Milford Graves or Sunny Murray. I was first introduced to Cecil's music when I heard his fantastic debut album Jazz Advance featuring Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone. While it's been awhile since I've listened to...